Definition
孤陋寡闻 is a chengyu (four-character idiom) describing someone who is ignorant and lacks worldly experience. Its literal meaning is 'solitary, shallow, few things heard' – a person who knows little because they have seen and heard very little. Use it to self-deprecate or gently criticize someone's lack of knowledge.
phrase
ignorant and inexperiencedill-informed and narrow-minded
Examples
- ,孤陋寡闻。Tā cóng xiǎo zài nóngcūn zhǎng dà, duì chéngshì shēnghuó gū lòu guǎ wén.He grew up in the countryside, so he is ignorant about city life.
- ,孤陋寡闻。Duō dú diǎn shū, bú yào ràng biérén juéde nǐ gū lòu guǎ wén.Read more books; don't let others think you are ill-informed.
- 孤陋寡闻,。Wǒ zhēn shì gū lòu guǎ wén, lián zhège chángshí dōu bù zhīdào.I am truly ignorant — I didn't even know this common knowledge.
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